Singapore shows interest in A'bad metro rail
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19/06/2008
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Times Of India (Ahmedabad)
The metro rail dream was revived once again for Ahmedabad on Wednesday, when a high-level delegation, led by Singapore minister of state for foreign affairs Balaji Sadasivan, told top Gujarat officials that it was interested in investing in the project in a big way. A senior state official, who participated in the meeting, told TOI: "The metro rapid transport system (MRTS) in Singapore is perhaps the best in the world. There is a need to clinch the opportunity.' Other members of the delegation included chairman of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) Vijay Iyangar, diplomat Chin Hock Seng, apart from senior businessmen and officials. However, recently there have been indications that the Gujarat government was not so keen on a metro because it thought the BRTS was enough. The metro project was initially approved by the Gujarat Industrial Development Board (GIDB) in 2003. A detailed project report and feasibility study for the project, which is estimated to cost around Rs 3,200 crore, has been undertaken. These reports propose to install metro lines between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar and north-south and east-west corridors of Ahmedabad as an answer to the transportation problems. Officials believe the Vibrant Gujarat business summit of January 2009 may see Singapore coming up with a detailed proposal to develop a metro for Ahmedabad. "We have offered them to participate in the summit as partner country. They have agreed to be at the summit, but they told us they would need to consult the government before deciding on whether to accept the offer for the status of partner country,' a senior official said. The Singapore delegation, which met Chief Minister Narendra Modi, took particular interest in urban and industrial projects, including Gujarat International Finance Tech-city near Gandhinagar and townships to be developed as part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.